To Death, I Reject
by RedShirt94
Summary: "Dying, he thought, should be for those who deserve it, or those who are okay with it. And Naruto Uzumaki was not okay with it." AU-ish? Slight SasuNaru.


**The Eccentric Otaku:** And here is another Naruto oneshot! God, will I ever stop? Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to leave a little feedback.

**Warning:** Not so nice language, I think, and maybe slight SasuNaru? Well, you can interpret it that way if you want, and if not...then whatever.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own. Sadly. Because Naruto wouldn't even be recognizable if I got a hold to it.

* * *

The heavens were crying for him.

Fat, sorrowful drops of liquid fell from the sky and crashed upon a ragged, broken body. The boy took in heaves of air, wheezing as his chest exploded in pain. Tears ran down his cheeks as he lied there limply, merging with mahogany that seemed to come from nowhere as it was carried away in a stream by the endless rain.

How had things gone so wrong?

He was stronger now, he should have been able to meet the Uchiha head-on! They were supposed to be lying here together, both breathing their last puffs of air, but he was there alone. He had been utterly defeated. What he would give to be able to go back. Back to when things were fun, when _he_ was there.

He would have done anything to stop that bastard snake from getting to Sasuke, to keep him from leaving. To have at least had an idea of what was going on. He was such an idiot back then.

They were best friends, for god's sake! He should have noticed something different. He should have been able to tell his friend was about to become a deserter. He should have been able to change his mind.

If Naruto were to blame anyone, he would rest the blame on himself.

Gazing around the large field where a battle had took place mere moments ago, Naruto decided that things had gone _so wrong_. If things had worked the way he had hoped, that damn Uchiha would be here with him. They would probably be trading insults back and forth, making up for the ones over the years that couldn't be said with all of the distance between them. But if he hadn't been an idiot from the start, the Uchiha might have never left in the first place.

Naruto cried. He had so much to cry about.

He would never be Hokage now. He had broken the promise he made with Sakura to bring Sasuke back. He had just lost his best friend. He was dying.

God, he was scared.

He didn't know what it was like to die, nor did he want to figure that out yet. Just the idea of never seeing his friends again, leaving so many things undone, scared him shitless. He didn't want to die.

Staring blearily at the sky as it cried on him, perhaps even for him, Naruto summoned every last ounce of power he had, and he stood. He stood, and he told himself that he was _not_ okay with dying. Dying, he thought, should be for those who deserve it, or those who are okay with it.

And Naruto Uzumaki was not okay with it.

As he stood, he reflected on all of the things he hadn't accomplished, and he remembered the things he had swore he would do. Dammit, he _was_ going to become the Hokage! He _wasn't_ going to break Sakura's promise. He _swore _to make it out of this alive. And damn it all, _he was going to bring Sasuke back!_

Motivation and resolve fueled him as he drug his heavy limbs across the field.

Naruto was known as many things- a knuckle head, an idiot, and even last place- but he wasn't someone who gave up. _Giving up was for morons like Sasuke_, he thought. _Morons who abandoned their village and friends for power that he could have earned here as well._

Naruto let out a bark of laughter, which came out as more of a maniacal laugh, and his whole being reverberated in pain. Shakily, he continued on his trek, coughing up some blood as he did so. Past memories surfaced as he limped on, memories of that bastard.

As he remembered the good and the bad, he decided that he just couldn't give up on the bastard Uchiha because if he gave up, so would everyone else. He knew that the only reason anyone kept up their fruitless searches for the asshole was because of his sheer stubbornness when it came to the boy. If he gave up, then Sasuke would finally have absolutely no one.

Naruto couldn't let that happen. He knew the feeling of having no one around, no one that could look at him without an ounce of blame in their eyes. Some part of him knew that Sasuke deserved that, but the larger part, the part that still considered the boy to be his best friend, decided to ignore that. He decided to ignore that and pretend that the reason Sasuke did all of this, the reason he went and ripped out a part of Naruto's very being, was because the boy was misguided.

He was misguided and had no idea what he truly wanted. That way, Naruto could pretend that none of this was actually Sasuke's fault, and he could look at the boy without blame. He pretended that things would be the same after he brought Sasuke back, because truthfully, that was pretty much all that kept him sane these days.

Back then, he was happy.

If he decided to keep this honesty thing going, he might even dare to bring forth the fact that, sometimes, he didn't think he was happy anymore. Thinking of happy brought up memories of the Uchiha, and these days, everything reminds him of the boy. So how was he supposed to be happy when everyday he was forced to remember the boy, who ultimately brought upon thoughts of his failure to keep him here.

How was he supposed to be happy with that?

Naruto let out a shaky breath as he stumbled over a tree root. He needed to stop thinking, because thinking was making him depressed, and that was the last thing he needed at the moment. He stumbled forward for what seemed like hours, days even, before he finally reached his pleasant destination, and a part of him wondered why he had led Sasuke so far away from his home when they fought.

Was it because he didn't want his friends to be in harm's way? Or, perhaps, because he didn't want them to be forced to watch the two die?

Shaking the thoughts away, Naruto faced the one place he knew he could always call home, and hoped that one day, Sasuke might be able to do the same. Being in sight of his home brought forth more surging emotions, and he decided that he would live. He would live and bring the bastard back, and then he would become the Hokage because that's what he's always sworn to do, and Naruto wasn't a person who gave up.

Taking heavy steps toward his village, Naruto let himself scream at the top of his lungs,

"_Sorry Death, but I'm not coming any time soon!"_


End file.
